A New Jersey mayor reportedly lunged at a constant critic of his during a combative public hearing Wednesday night that saw several people in the audience tackle the town’s top pol.
Pemberton Township Mayor Matthew Bianchini charged at local gadfly Michael Sawka and screamed “I am getting you, I am f—ing getting you!” as ex-cops and onlookers restrained him during an employment appeal hearing for a recently fired town official, according to the Pine Barrens Tribune.
Ken Gerber, the township’s former director of Community Development and a retired police chief at the center of the hearing, was in the middle of accusing Bianchini’s administration of wrongdoing when tempers flared.
Bianchini — a Republican who is up for reelection this year — and Township Engineer Jennifer Harris are seen glaring at their critics, including Sawka and another resident wearing a shirt endorsing rival GOP Dan Dewey, in footage taken by the outlet.
After a heated exchange and a gesture from Sawka — which the mayor later claimed was hostile toward his daughter — an enraged Bianchini is seen bolting at him.
Councilman Perry Doyle Jr., a retired cop, restrained the mayor and took him to a nearby conference room.
Two police officers, including a K9 unit, arrived soon after to wrestle control of the raucous meeting.
Sawka called for Bianchini’s immediate arrest for assaulting him and verbally threatening, and refused to leave the meeting before an attorney persuaded him to do so.
“I want the police here to arrest him for that threat! That is assault!” Sawka shouted, the outlet reported.
Bianchini later admitted his behavior was wrong but refused to apologize for the explosive outburst — claiming he was “justified” in defending his family from months of targeted verbal harassment.
“I will not apologize for my actions last night. If you attack my family, as that resident did last night, I will act,” Bianchini wrote on Facebook.
“My wife and daughter were both physically and verbally attacked. Were my actions wrong? Probably. Were they justified? Absolutely!”
The explosive meeting comes amid a deeply polarized political climate in the southern Jersey muniicaplity.
Pemberton Business Administrator Rosemary Flaherty defended Gerber’s firing, alleging he mismanaged his department and engaged in “locker room talk” in the office — claims Gerber and his allies contend are politically motivated retributions tied to his friendship with Dewey.
